The method of using it in India is chiefly for smoking in combination with tobacco. For this purpose, a plug of tobacco is first placed at the bottom of the bowl of the pipe, on the top a small piece of hashish, and over this a piece of glowing charcoal. Another way is to knead the drug with the tobacco by the thumb of one hand working in the palm of the other, till they are thoroughly incorporated. Simple infusions of the leaves and flowering tops are also much used for drinking purposes by old and young in India, the alcoholic form being a most active and dangerous intoxicant. The antiquity of the drug is great, and it is said to have been used in China as early as the year 220, to produce insensibility when performing operations. The Persians employed it in the Middle Ages for the purpose of exciting the pugnacity and fanaticism of the soldiers during the wars of the Crusades. In 1803 Visey, a French scientist, published a memoir on hashish, and attempted to prove that it was the Nepenthe of Homer; there is little doubt, however, that the use of the drug was known to Galen. Silvestin de Lacy contends that the word assassin is derived from "hashishin," a name given to a wild sect of Mahomedans who committed murder under its influence. The Chinese herbal, Rh-ya, which dates from about the fifth century, B.C., notices the fact that the hemp plant is of two kinds, the one producing seeds and the other flowers only. Herodotus states that hemp grows in Scythia both wild and cultivated, and that the Thracians made garments from it which can hardly be distinguished from linen. He also describes "how the Scythians exposed themselves as in a bath" to the vapour of the seeds thrown on hot coals. The hemp occurs in two principal forms, viz.: 1. _bhang_, consisting of the dried leaves and small stalks of a dark green colour, mixed with a few fruits. It has a peculiar odour but little taste. Mixed with flour or incorporated with sweetmeat it is called hashish. It is also smoked, or taken infused in cold water. 2. _Ganja_ consists of the flowering shoots of the female plant, having a compound or glutinous appearance, and is brownish-green in colour. Of the many curious experiences that have been written describing the effects of hashish, perhaps the most accurate is that given by Gautier, in which he relates his own experience of the drug.